Life-saving apparatus



G. PICCO.

LIFE SAVING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED A ue.za, 1920. Patented May 17, 1921- 6 SHEETSSH EETI.

6. PICCO. LIFE SAVING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.23|,1920.

Patented May17-,1921.

APPAR 6'. Pl E-SAVING ATUS.

ATION FILED AUG.23, 1920.

Patented May 17, 1921.

6 SHEETSSHEET 3- G. PICCO.

v we SAVING APPARATUS; APPLICATION FILED AUG-2% 1920. 1,378,273. vPatented May 17, 1921.

---- IIIIIIIIIIIII'IES- n W G. PICCO.

LIFE SAVING APPARATUS. APPLICATION man AUG.23, 1920.

G. PICCO. Ll-FE SAVING APPARATUS.- APPLICATION man AUG. 23. 1920.

Patented May 17, 1921.

s SHEFTS-SHEET s- QGIOYVIANNI Prooo, on NEW max; N. Y. i I

LIFE-SAVING BPARATus-Y To all whom it may concern Be it known that I,GIOVANNI Piooo, a suband resident of New York, in the county of New Yorkand. have invented certain ject of the King of Italy,

paratus and consists of a combination of floating vessels of novelconstruction in con-' nection with devices hereinafter, fully describedand: claimed.

The primary objects of my inventlon are to provide a safe life savingapparatus which "1 will be unaffected by high going sea, which cannotsink unless badly damaged, 'and 3 Still another object of my inventionisto' provide auxiliary devices 5 :provide which will afford theoccupantsv a relatively" p l1ne l5-15 of Figpll.

stable and comfortable resting place until rescued. v 1

Another object of invention to pro 'vid' in connection with "such.apparatus valve controlled air supply means so airwater from entering. w

provide. air and :water conduits facilitating the unobstructed relativemovement of units i W its storing on deck of a ship witho'ut foccu"yinventionare to" operable by the? artificially supplying air and forcontrolling the inflow and outflowl of 1 comprising my device.; Furtherobjects ofoccupants for water when desired.

A-furthe'r iObjGCtjQf myxinvention is to units w1th anti-frictiondevicesfor engaging v with theupper portionof'the' otherlunit.

vThese and other. objects will'bezreadily understoodfrom the followingdescription 1 and the accompanying drawings, forming f part of thisspecification, and iuwhich z K Figure 1 isacross-sectional view throughmy device inoperative position. '1

Fig. 2. is an elevation of-same=in"closedt" ?pos1tion.

is a} top thereofi Fig. 3

Fig. 4:18 a transversal cross-sectionalview taken on line 4: 4 of Fig.2."

Fig. 5, is a top;;view ofmy device: par itially open position.

g h Specificationof Letters Patent. .Application:filed. August 23, 1920.Serial No..405,238. '1'

line 9+9 of Fig." 8L

Fig. 10 illustratesthe ai u'a in inaad the upper portion of one f theFig. 6 is anfelevationthereof. i I

sition.

trolled, air duct partially in section. 5

P nted Mayi17,1211. i

Fig. 7 illustrates my device in folded p0 7 Fig. 8 1s .a detallviewofthe -valve con- Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view'tak'en onposition with the valve forced closed.

Fig. 11 is a detail view of .the aupriliaryair j pumping arrangement.

Fig. 12 is an'enlarged. d t gf.

tional view taken online 12.12 ofFigI' 11.

device in1crosssection.

.Flg'. l 'illus'trate's a" modified form of my H Y gi a plan viewthereof in I sitiongl 4 F1g.;15 1s .a' cross-sectional view taken on.Fig. 16- illustrates the modified i collapsed or folded state.

Referringpto" the drawings, an outerrv l, W sel 1 is illustratedcompo'sedof 'a' plurality ranged as to allow'the entrance of air for theI occupants" consumption; fwhile preventing 1 or reinforcing sections 2connected and 'cov;

cred by waterproof cloth. or'i'any fother suitable materialB. :Eachofthesections is Pivotally secu red at bothends fto -headersi l i andz5andso arranged as. to becollapsible in" the. manner shown inFig. 7forfacilitating pying too great a space. Thelower header is providedwith aweight '6swhile the upper. Q f

header ismade far: lighter in weightii';

- The closing ends of vessel l'poss'es m ventional fastening. me n j'idi t r 7;; whereby 3 ght COIiIlGCtion is assured i larway: to thatof theouter zvessel 2, -'being ers 10.:and .11 and'being coveredia'ndinterconnected throughfleizible, waterproof nem- Y I ber 12.

At the top header antisfriction device 13 is provided, composed of aconvex body I in which is revolvinglylodged a' plurality of:

bearing bans: adapted) gag the upper portionof the outer vessel whenthe'ivesse'l's l are caused to'move in relation to each otherl Securedaat'the-"top heade'rf l of the outervessel' is an airwd'uct i15provided'with an automatically operating valve '16 at the 'lip'l';

peropeningofithe duct. This valvefis m.- a

6O i at-ing .a water inlet valve 47 by means of p I prevented fromentering into the duct at a When the outer vessel is in perfectperpendicular position either still or revolving around its own verticalaxis,valve 16 opensdue to the-action of weight 21.

At the moment however, when the outer, vessel becomes inclined, nomatter in which direction, the valve tends to close and will close,entirely when the deviation reachesa certain degree. In this mannerwater is rough sea, while air is admitteduvhenever the vessel reaches anupright or nearly up right position when swinging to and fro.

Connected at thelower portion of the air duct at 26 is aflexible,'waterproof air" con duit27 passing through the hull of theouter vessel and 'into the inner vessel at 28.

As will be observed the air conduit is loosely suspended so asnot tointerfere with relative movementsof the vessels.

is The lower header 11 of theinner vessel is provided with an innerweighted platform 7 29 and dished outer weight 30.

Uponplatform29 is arranged a spring supported seat 31 to whichare-connected plungers 32 (Fig .211 and 12) of auxiliary 'a1r supplypumps .33;

he pumps are interconnected with each other by 'wayof. conduits 34 and35', the

. former lcommunicating at 36 with an extension 27 of the flexibleconduit 27, which passes down and around the inner vessel;

*The upper conduit 35 termi'nates-in supply pipe ,37.

Y ymovingplatform 31 up anddown'the plungers 32 are actuated, therebysucking in- =a1rthrough pipe 34 and discharging it through pipes 35'and37 into the inner ves sel after having forced the air to pass and to betrapped by a series of valves 38,39-and' 4.0 (Fig. 12

At .bothrupperlportions of'the globular vessels are provided manholes 41and 42.

for permitting access when the vessels are closed. 1 Below -manhole' .42of. the inner j vessel is a railed-in platform 43 from which i occupantsinafydescendintoor ascend from the: space between the vessels. "Aflexible:

the inner'vessel by way-of step ladder 44 and laddery45j. 1 gConveniently arranged upon weighted 1' platform129 is a controlling,device 46 actuwhich watermay beallowed to enter into conduit 48terminatingat .49 "without the hull Qfpthe outer vessel and. at 50 inthe outer vessel valve chamber of valve 47 conveys water therethroughwhen the'valve is lifted and by way of passage 51 into the outer vessel.

In Figs. 13, 14', 15 and 16a modifiedpform of my invention isillustrated where the globular vessels are formed by pivoted semispheresarranged" to register with each other.

The inner vessel is provided with a hollow shaft 52 the ends :53 and54=are built out to hinges around which swings' inne'r' Similarlyconstructed is .the outer vessel having hinge-heads 57and 58 and'anouter shell 59 and inner shell 60. -The arrangeshell 55- while the outershell 56 is sta tionary.

ment of other'parts is substantially thesame g as that described above.7 For convenientlyhandling the apparatus from deck-ofship and forfacilitating its lowering into water, hooks or ears 61 are. provided atthe-upper header of the outer vessel. A pet cook 62 at the bottomof-the' (Fig. 1)? serves alsdrain; l Operation:

' In case of danger the folded apparatus is 0 closed, orpartially closedfrom'the' ship. Itmay be occupied while in suspended and somewhat openposltion, whereafter it is closed from without and and" suspendedlowered. *The petcock 62 at thebottom ofthe outer vessel is closedbefore loweringwhile valve 47 isopened. Water is-permitted to enter intothe 'outer;

vessel. until the inner. vessel floats freely. Then valve 47 is closedand the apparatus released.

When hoisting the :apparatusl-after a rescue, water is releasedifirstthroughvalve i 47 and later, opened. 7'

,While my drawings illustrate :preferred butspecific forms of mydevicerbe it understood that this invention shall not be limited to theconstruction shown. I reservefor myself, therefore, the right tomake'changes' and improvements within the broads'cope ofmy-inve'ntiontfl 7 I claim: i

when accessible, .cock. 62 is 1. In a lifesaving apparatus, combinationofan inner'andfanl'outer vessel of substantially globular shape, said ivessels made of collapsible sections withintervening waterproofconnections, and adapted to be closed from-without, an air duct secured,

to the outer vesse'l, amtatably mounted: valve associated with saidduct,a counterweight connected with the valve-"and'adapted to keep itnormally open wh'en' saidout'er vessel'is in upright position andtoclose it when the vemel is inclined, a flexible hose 4 connecting saidduct with the inner vessel for permitting the -latter to roll within theouter vessel, a manhole provided in the outer vessel, 2. similar manholeprovided on'top'of the inner vessel, a rounded top-provided withanti-friction devices mounted at the upper end of the inner vessel, aweighted platform within and at the bottom of said inner vessel, aspring supported seat secured to said platform and having associatedtherewith a pumping 'mechanismfor supplying air, a water valve operablefrom within the inner vessel and adapted to supply water into or drainit from the space between the vessels and a cock valve provided at andcommunicating with the outer vessel.

2. A life saving apparatus-comprising in combination outer and innerglobular vessels, said vessels consisting of hinged sectionsinterconnected by waterproof flexible fabric, and adapted to be foldedup, closed or opened, an air duct provided on top of the outer vesseland equipped with a rotatable valve adapted to close when the vesselswings out of its normal vertical position, a

J inflow and outflow of water in the space between the two vessels andoperable from within the inner vessel, and a flexible water floating.

conduit controlled by said water valve and adapted to facilitate therelative movement of the vessels for-facilitating entering "and leavingthe vessel. I

3. A life-savlng apparatus, comprising in combination foldable inner andouter ves-- sels, bothadapted to float inwater, controlj j ling meansoperable from withinthe'inner vessel for facilitating the entrance ofwater in the space between the vessels to any desired degree,valve.controlled airconduits associated with the outer vessel forsupplying air to theinner vessel, air pumps Within the inner vesselconnected with said conduits, and anti-friction means provided at thetop of the inner vesseladapted to engage the upper part of the outervessel when the vessels change their 1 4. Alife saving apparatus,comprising an outer and an inner vessel, the former adapt relativeposition while T ed to be partially filled with water, the inner vesseladapted means for controlling from within the inner to float in thewater of the outer vessel, means for entering the vessels,

means for supplying air to the inner vessel," v

vessel the in and outflow ofwater into the r outer vessel and means forfacilitating the relative movement of the vessels when both are afloat.

' Signed'at New 'York, in the countyof New York, and State of New York,this 20 day of. August A. D. 1920, v a V eIovAN i P ooo, j

